RIP Diana Rigg

[macbeth]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 10:44am

I feel so lucky to have seen her in My Fair Lady, though I've been a fan since the Avengers. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 11:16am

Sad news. 82 is a very respectable age, but these days we see many people living and performing well into their 80s, and even into their 90s. You certainly can't fault anyone for not making it that far, but it is a shame that we couldn't get a few more performances from such a great actor. But still, she had a long life and a full career, and we in NY should feel lucky to have been graced with her final stage role. 

RIP, Dame Diana! 

[sabrelady]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 11:27am

Ave Atque  Vale .

Talent, grace, beauty, intelligence- she had it all.And she shared it with us.

Thank you.

R.I.P.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 11:59am

A true legend, she delivered so many great performance on stage. She was a glorious Martha in Who's Afraid in Virginia Woolf?, a titanic Medea and a gorgeous Phyllis in Follies. She'll be missed. 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 1:27pm

macbeth said: "I feel so lucky to have seen her in My Fair Lady, though I've been a fan since the Avengers."

Same for me.  A fan since The Avengers.  Luckily, I was able to interact with her after my performance of My Fair Lady.  It was a small stage door crowd of maybe 10.  No one at the door, but me, was interested in her.  She had me walk with her to her vehicle.  I mean, come on....Emma Peel,  James Bond Royalty and Lady Olenna Tyrell.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 1:54pm

JBroadway said: "Sad news. 82 is a very respectable age, but these days we see manypeople living and performing well into their 80s, and even into their 90s. You certainly can't fault anyone for not making it that far, but it is a shame that we couldn't get a few more performances from such a great actor. But still, she had a long life and a full career, and we in NY should feel lucky to have been graced with her final stage role.

This post sounds like you are weirdly judging her for....dying. Weird.

Anyways, I was so glad I got to see her in My Fair Lady. What a legend. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:04pm

No, not judging. Just remarking that while 82 may sound like a nice, ripe old age, it still feels like a shame to lose someone in their early 80s when they potentially could have had 10-20 years left in them by today's life expectancy among aging theatre artists.

Apologies if it came off as sounding inappropriate. It wasn't meant to be judgmental, just reflective, and sad that she's gone what feels like too soon. 

Updated On: 9/10/20 at 02:04 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:10pm

Cool. 

[Cora Hoover Hooper]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:17pm

VERY SAD NEWS.

Was never lucky enough to see her on stage, but enjoyed her many film and tv performances starting with The Avengers. Have been a fan of hers ever since. MRS. PEEL, WE'RE NEEDED!

Updated On: 9/10/20 at 02:17 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:29pm

Sad news, indeed. She was also great (when wasn't she great?) in the Mrs. Bradley Mysteries. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:45pm

Tons of her fans will remember Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in ''The Avengers'' or Oleanna Tyrell in ''Game of Thrones.'' But to me, she'll always be Charlotte in the 1977 movie of ''A Little Night Music,'' singing ''Every Day a Little Death.'' She was perfection and deserved to be Oscar-nominated (like Jonathan Tunick, who won for adapting Sondheim's score).

I also loved her delicious delivery of ''Ah, But Underneath'' in the London cast recording of ''Follies.''

I saw Rigg only once onstage: in her amazing tour de force in ''Medea'' (1994) and was so thrilled she won the Tony.

At that time, I read an interview with her and was surprised to learn that Rigg loved fly-fishing. I wondered if she had ever seen ''A River Runs Through It,'' Robert Redford's beautiful 1992 movie about two brothers who love to fly-fish in Montana, so I dropped off a video of it at the stage door of ''Medea.''

A couple weeks later, Rigg sent me a handwritten thank-you note:

''Dear Mr. Wong: You couldn't have sent me a nicer present. I'm a mad keen fisherwoman, haven't seen the film, and have missed the best time for trout fishing in England this year. Many thanks! - Diana Rigg.''

What a classy actress and classy lady!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpiON4UqDgg

Updated On: 9/10/20 at 02:45 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:47pm

[darreyl102]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 2:50pm

She was an incredibly talented and kind performer. I got to meet her after seeing MY FAIR LADY and she couldn't have been cooler, I l cherish our picture we took together :

http://www.instagram.com/p/CE91SKeJgFi/?igshid=j5pzxvolvm32

Updated On: 9/10/20 at 02:50 PM

[darreyl102]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 3:04pm

one of my ALL TIME favorite lines in movie history was said by Dame Rigg in 'The Great Muppet Caper'

Miss Piggy : [Lady Holiday has just given Miss Piggy the entire backstory for the movie] Why are you telling me all this?

Lady Holiday : It's plot exposition. It has to go somewhere.

Updated On: 9/10/20 at 03:04 PM

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 3:11pm

I am so glad I saw her on stage in My Fair Lady - I had been on the fence about going, and when they announced her in the cast I knew I needed to get a ticket. Emma Peel was my first introduction to her as a child (even before The Great Muppet Caper, haha). What a life, and what a loss. 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 4:15pm

She was a wonderful Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady and one of the best actresses among her peers. She will be missed.

[Tom5]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 7:13pm

And let us not forget one of the world's great beauties.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 9/10/20 at 8:07pm

I'll never forget meeting her after seeing My Fair Lady. She came out the door, waved, and walked away. Someone in line wanted badly to meet her and went up to her. I was nervous to do the same, but I just wanted to say thank you. No picture, no signature, etc. I went up to her, she was wearing white sneakers, khaki pants, a tee shirt, and a bubble vest. Her make up was gorgeous and her hair stunning. She was gracious and said she appreciated our energy at the performance. 

She could move her pinky finger and it gave the impression of a deep, character choice. 

One of the greats. RIP.

[David10086]

Posted: 9/11/20 at 12:13am

Wish I saw her on stage. I became a fan of hers a few years ago when I was finally able to see A Little Night Music. Even bought the soundtrack because I loved her singing voice. I can’t believe she didn’t get an Oscar nod.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 9/11/20 at 12:58am

RIP. A life well lived.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 9/11/20 at 4:39pm

Besides her priceless performances, Diana Rigg also left ''No Turn Unstoned.''

Diana Rigg got her most notorious pan for appearing in nude in ''Abelard and Heloise'' on Broadway in 1971. She said: "I was the first major actress to get my knickers down. The reaction was horrible. I got one of the meanest, nastiest notices ever known.'' John Simon wrote: ''Diana Rigg, the Héloïse, is built, alas, like a brick basilica with inadequate flying buttresses”.’ Pointing to her breasts, Rigg added: ‘'He was talking about those.’'

That review helped inspire Rigg to put out a 1982 book called ''No Turn Unstoned,'' a collection of ''the worst theatrical reviews in history.'' Wikipedia says Rigg wrote to her many colleagues in theater and film, like John Gielgud and Glenda Jackson, and asked them to share their worst notices. And she would tour university campuses, reading excerpts from her book. Proceeds from her speaking tour and the book went to a theatrical charity.

Updated On: 9/11/20 at 04:39 PM

[Cora Hoover Hooper]

Posted: 9/11/20 at 10:44pm

Yes, I remember when that book came out. (Alas, long before Amazon came into being). I never found a copy locally. WIsh I could find a copy now.

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 9/13/20 at 1:32pm

Sad news indeed...i loved Diana in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC...she was a perfect Charlotte...the very best thing in this sad movie of Sondheim's great Broadway musical...i do wish i had seen her live on stage..that must have been a thrill indeed...R.I.P